He doesn't respond.
He just stares at me like I'm the only thing holding his world upright.
When we land, it's almost midnight again, and before I know it we're standing outside the cottage door.
"Thank you for a nice evening," I say. "Regardless of how it's unfolded, I did have a nice time."
Niko doesn't move. He just looks into my eyes.
"When can I see you again?" he asks, his voice low.
I look at him. "Again?"
"You think this is the end of it?"
I laugh. "I don't even know whatthisis."
"Then I'll help you figure it out. See me again."
I look up at him and know what I should say.
I should say never. I should end this now. Tell him one and done.
But Keira's words ring in my head,you're allowed to want something. Especially when no one else chose it for you.
So I don't.
Instead, I blurt out, "Tomorrow."
His smile is slow, satisfied. We both know what this means, that I'm allowing something to begin. Something that could destroy us both.
"Then I'll see you tomorrow, orea mou."
And I let him walk away with that. With a tomorrow I never should have offered, but already want.
6
NIKO
Water drips from my hair onto the marble floor as I pace the length of the suite. The towel hangs low on my hips, but I don't care about getting dressed yet. My mind won't stop spinning.
Four dates. Four perfect fucking dates since Dublin, and I can still feel the distance she keeps between us.
I stop in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the Irish countryside. The view is beautiful, expensive, everything money can buy. But all I see is Calli's face when she pulled away from me last night. That careful smile. That practiced step back.
She wants me. I know she does.
But what if I'm wrong?
What if she walks away? No.
I see it in the way her breath catches when I lean close. The way her fingers linger just a second too long when she hands me something. The way she watches my mouth when I speak.
But wanting isn't enough anymore.
My skin feels too tight, like it's trying to contain something much larger than my body, this hunger that grows with every passing day.
Every night, I sleep with Calli's name wrapped around my tongue. And every morning, I wake up starving.
